The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Day 209

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 2 Comments on The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Day 209
Conservation, Science

In case anyone was under the impression that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is over just because the well has been closed, it isn’t.

We continue to maintain our Gulf of Mexico Oilspill Page and will soon be adding a post-spill section to cover the ongoing effort in the Gulf.

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Another science journalism fail from CNN

Posted on By David Shiffman 11 Comments on Another science journalism fail from CNN
Uncategorized

CNN’s reporting of science issues is admittedly not the best around, but a story on their website this morning looks like it was written by a fifth grader. First of all, the headline is absurd. “Science figures out”? Really? How about something like “researchers determine”? “cats display a mastery of physical dynamics that leaves their … Read More “Another science journalism fail from CNN” »

A recipe for the evolution of smaller fish stocks?

Posted on By Amy Freitag
Science

fish face a tradeoff of where to use their energy, much like the polluted fish in the Lorax by Dr. Suess

Overfishing is most often implicated as the cause of decreasing fish stocks and that makes a lot of logical sense if you’ve ever seen a large commercial trawler unload its catch. But there very well might be another force at work in the precipitous decline in fish stocks worldwide: pollution. The basic premise is that it takes resources to deal with pollutants that normally would be given to growth and reproduction. Through polluting the ocean, we have selected for the fish individuals that can most effectively divert those resources, inadvertently also selecting for smaller fish that reproduce less. That has huge implications for the fish’s population dynamics and potentially total fish stock. More details below the fold…

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Wanted: An audience to learn about shark conservation

Posted on By David Shiffman

Recently, Andrew shared a video of me Skyping into a sixth grade class to talk about sharks. Long time readers and Twitter followers know that I regularly speak to local schools, community groups, conservation organizations, and even churches. I really enjoy speaking to the public about sharks, and since most of my speaking requests come from people who have previously seen one of my talks, it seems that people enjoy hearing about them from me.

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Finding Melville’s Whale – Queen Mab (Chapter 31)

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

Chapter 31 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale. Queen Mab There is wisdom yet in the dreams of fools who question their master, wrathful Ahab and … Read More “Finding Melville’s Whale – Queen Mab (Chapter 31)” »